.jpg) Price after a game at theUniversity of British Columbia in Vancouver, 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1964-02-15)February 15, 1964 (age 61) Bartlesville, Oklahoma, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| High school | Enid (Enid, Oklahoma) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| College | Georgia Tech (1982–1986) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1986: 2nd round, 25th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | Dallas Mavericks | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1986–1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 25, 15, 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 1998–2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1995 | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Washington Bullets | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Golden State Warriors | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Orlando Magic | ||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Duluth HS (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Georgia Tech (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Whitefield Academy | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | South Dragons | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Denver Nuggets (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Atlanta Hawks (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Golden State Warriors (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Orlando Magic (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Charlotte Bobcats / Hornets (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Charlotte 49ers | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Denver Nuggets (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Career NBA statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Points | 10,989 (15.2 ppg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 1,848 (2.6 rpg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Assists | 4,863 (6.7 apg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former professionalbasketball player and coach. The last coaching job he held was ashead coach of theCharlotte 49ers. As a four-time NBA All-Star and four-time All-NBA Team member, he played for 12 seasons in theNational Basketball Association (NBA), from 1986 to 1998. Numerous players and analysts have cited Price as one of the greatest and most underrated offensive players of all time.[1][2][3][4]
Spending the majority of his career with theCleveland Cavaliers, his last three years consisted of one season each with theWashington Bullets,Golden State Warriors, andOrlando Magic.
Standing at 6 feet (183 cm) tall, Price playedcollege basketball atGeorgia Tech. During his time playing on theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team, he was a three-time All American and four-time AllACC basketball player who helped lead the Yellow Jackets to anACC Championship his junior year by defeatingNorth Carolina in the ACC Tournament championship game. He was named the ACC Player of the Year for the1984–85 season and his jersey was retired.[5] He was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1991 and into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Price graduated in four years with a degree in Industrial Management.
Apoint guard, he mystified critics who said he was too slow, too small and too deliberate for a high-level game. Selected first in the second round (25th overall) by theDallas Mavericks in the1986 NBA draft, he was acquired by theCleveland Cavaliers in a draft day trade that helped turn the team into anEastern Conference powerhouse.
Price was known as one of the league's most consistent shooters. He finished his career with a 90.4%free throw shooting percentage[7] and a 40% three-point field goal shooting percentage.[8] During the1988–89 season, Price became the second player, afterLarry Bird, to join the NBA's50–40–90 club for those who shot at least 40% from three-point range, at least 50% from the field and at least 90% from the free throw line in a single season, and is still one of only eight players to have ever done this while also achieving the NBA league minimum number of makes in each category. Price ranked consistently among theassist leaders (as of March 11, 2015, LeBron James surpassed Price's Cavs record of 4,206 assists, taking over 1st place[9]),[10] twice won theThree Point Contest (in 1993 and 1994), and was a four-timeAll-Star. Price was named to the All-NBA First Team after the 1992–93 season.[11] Price was second in franchise steals with 734, a Cavaliers record that stood until December 9, 2008, whenLeBron James surpassed him.[12]
Another one of Price's distinguishing traits on the court was his pioneering of the splitting of the double team. As former teammateSteve Kerr explains, "Mark really revolutionized the way that people attack the screen and roll. To me, he was the first guy in the NBA who really split the screen and roll. A lot of teams started blitzing the pick and roll and jumping two guys at it to take the ball out of the hands of the point guard. He’d duck right between them and shoot that little runner in the lane. Nobody was doing that at that time. You watch an NBA game now and almost everybody does that. Mark was a pioneer in that regard."[13]
Price was plagued by injuries late in his career, a factor in his trade to theWashington Bullets prior to the 1995–96 season. He played one season for Washington before moving on to theGolden State Warriors, signing with the Warriors as a free agent in July 1996. Price played 70 games for Golden State and averaged 11.3 points per game. On October 28, 1997, Price was traded to theOrlando Magic forDavid Vaughn III andBrian Shaw. He spent one season with the Magic before being waived on June 30, 1998, effectively ending his career.
During his career Price represented theUnited States national team. He played for them in the1983 Pan American Games where the team won gold medals, and also represented the national team in the1994 FIBA World Championship, where they were known asDream Team II, and won gold medals.[14]
Not long after retirement, Price's number, 25, was retired by theCleveland Cavaliers. He is a member of the Georgia, Ohio, and Oklahoma Sports Halls of Fame.
The city ofEnid, Oklahoma, renamed the basketball arena Mark Price Arena, as a tribute to the NBA player's accomplishments, since he was one of the best basketball athletes inEnid High School history.[15]
Price's fatherDenny was a successful player atOklahoma and for thePhillips 66ers, before becoming a college coach forSam Houston State andPhillips University.[16] His younger brotherBrent played ten seasons in the NBA. His daughter Caroline had a short stint in professional tennis after playing for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels. His son Josh played college basketball for Trevecca (2021–2022), after attending and playing two years forLiberty Flames. Price is a Christian and attends church.[17]
Mark Price began his coaching career during the 1998–99 basketball season as a community coach under head coach and friendJoe Marelle atDuluth High School for the varsity boys team. After Marelle discovered he hadnon-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Price became a primary factor in the team's return trip to the final four of the class 5AGHSA state tournament. It was the first timeDuluth High School returned to this point in the state tournament in 16 years. Price then went on to be an assistant coach toBobby Cremins at Georgia Tech during the 1999–2000 season.[18]
After Cremins retired from coaching at Georgia Tech, Price then went on the following year to be the head coach at Whitefield Academy inAtlanta for the 2000–01 season leading the team to a 27–5 record and the final eight teams of the state Class A tournament, a 20 win improvement over the prior season and 27 win improvement two seasons before Price arrived.[19]NBA playerJosh Smith also played at Whitefield Academy the same season Price was coach.[20][21]
In 2002, Price won theCoach Wooden "Keys to Life" Award.[22]
In 2003, Price was a consultant for theNBA'sDenver Nuggets. He then became an NBA television analyst andcolor commentator for both theCleveland Cavaliers and theAtlanta Hawks.
In March 2006, Price was named the inaugural head coach of the AustralianNBL'sSouth Dragons, a new franchise for the 2006–07 season.[23] Despite the Dragons featuring NBL Rookie of the YearJoe Ingles and four time OlympianShane Heal they began the season 0-5 and Price was fired.[24] Price and Heal exchanged criticisms in the Australian press after Heal was named as his successor.[25]
Price was the shooting consultant for theMemphis Grizzlies for the 2007–08 season and named the shooting coach for theAtlanta Hawks for the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons.[26] Price helped to improve the Hawks offensive output in their first return to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals in nearly 10 years during the 2009 NBA Playoffs.[27]
Price is credited with helpingBoston Celtics point guardRajon Rondo improve his jump shot. Rondo's scoring was a key factor in the Celtics reaching the2010 NBA Finals, where they pushed theLos Angeles Lakers to a full seven-game series.[28] For the 2010–2011 season, Price joined theGolden State Warriors as an assistant coach with the primary task of improving the Warriors shooting and free throw percentages.[29]
In December 2011, Price was hired as a player development coach for theOrlando Magic.[30] In July 2012, Price served as the head coach of theOrlando Magic's Summer League team.[31]
On July 1, 2013, Price was hired as an assistant coach by theCharlotte Bobcats, joining the staff of head coachSteve Clifford and associate head coachPatrick Ewing for the 2013–14 season.[32]
On March 25, 2015, Price was introduced as the head coach of the Charlotte 49ers.[33] He replaced CoachAlan Major, who parted ways with Charlotte after two medical leaves during the past season.[34] On December 14, 2017, it was announced that Mark Price was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Charlotte 49ers basketball program.[35]
In September 2018, he joined theDenver Nuggets coaching staff as a shooting consultant for the 2018–19 season.[36]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| * | Led the league | ‡ | NBA record |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–83 | Georgia Tech | 28 | 28 | 36.4 | .435 | .440 | .877 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 2.0 | .1 | 20.3 |
| 1983–84 | Georgia Tech | 29 | 29 | 37.2 | .509 | – | .824 | 2.1 | 4.2 | 1.9 | – | 15.6 |
| 1984–85 | Georgia Tech | 35 | 35 | 37.2 | .483 | – | .840 | 2.0 | 4.3 | 1.9 | .1 | 16.7 |
| 1985–86 | Georgia Tech | 34 | 34 | 35.4 | .528 | – | .855 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 1.9 | .1 | 17.4 |
| Career | 126 | 126 | 36.5 | .487 | .440 | .850 | 2.6 | 4.0 | 1.9 | .1 | 17.4 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–87 | Cleveland | 67 | 0 | 18.2 | .408 | .329 | .833 | 1.7 | 3.0 | .6 | .1 | 6.9 |
| 1987–88 | Cleveland | 80 | 79 | 32.8 | .506 | .486 | .877 | 2.3 | 6.0 | 1.2 | .2 | 16.0 |
| 1988–89 | Cleveland | 75 | 74 | 36.4 | .526 | .441 | .901 | 3.0 | 8.4 | 1.5 | .1 | 18.9 |
| 1989–90 | Cleveland | 73 | 73 | 37.1 | .459 | .406 | .888 | 3.4 | 9.1 | 1.6 | .1 | 19.6 |
| 1990–91 | Cleveland | 16 | 16 | 35.7 | .497 | .340 | .952 | 2.8 | 10.4 | 2.6 | .1 | 16.9 |
| 1991–92 | Cleveland | 72 | 72 | 29.7 | .488 | .387 | .947* | 2.4 | 7.4 | 1.3 | .2 | 17.3 |
| 1992–93 | Cleveland | 75 | 74 | 31.7 | .484 | .416 | .948* | 2.7 | 8.0 | 1.2 | .1 | 18.2 |
| 1993–94 | Cleveland | 76 | 73 | 31.4 | .478 | .397 | .888 | 3.0 | 7.8 | 1.4 | .1 | 17.3 |
| 1994–95 | Cleveland | 48 | 34 | 28.6 | .413 | .407 | .914 | 2.3 | 7.0 | .7 | .1 | 15.8 |
| 1995–96 | Washington | 7 | 1 | 18.1 | .300 | .333 | 1.000 | 1.0 | 2.6 | .9 | .0 | 8.0 |
| 1996–97 | Golden State | 70 | 49 | 26.8 | .447 | .396 | .906* | 2.6 | 4.9 | 1.0 | .0 | 11.3 |
| 1997–98 | Orlando | 63 | 33 | 22.7 | .431 | .335 | .845 | 2.0 | 4.7 | .8 | .1 | 9.5 |
| Career | 722 | 578 | 29.9 | .472 | .402 | .904 | 2.6 | 6.7 | 1.2 | .1 | 15.2 | |
| All-Star | 4 | 0 | 20.0 | .514 | .474 | .900 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 1.3 | .3 | 13.5 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Cleveland | 5 | 5 | 41.0 | .567 | .417 | .960 | 3.6 | 7.6 | .6 | .0 | 21.0 |
| 1989 | Cleveland | 4 | 4 | 39.5 | .386 | .375 | .933 | 3.3 | 5.5 | .8 | .0 | 16.0 |
| 1990 | Cleveland | 5 | 5 | 38.4 | .525 | .353 | 1.000 | 2.8 | 8.8 | 1.8 | .2 | 20.0 |
| 1992 | Cleveland | 17 | 17 | 35.5 | .496 | .362 | .904 | 2.5 | 7.5 | 1.4 | .2 | 19.2 |
| 1993 | Cleveland | 9 | 9 | 32.0 | .443 | .308 | .958 | 2.1 | 6.1 | 1.7 | .0 | 13.0 |
| 1994 | Cleveland | 3 | 3 | 34.0 | .349 | .222 | .929 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 1.3 | .0 | 15.0 |
| 1995 | Cleveland | 4 | 4 | 35.8 | .300 | .235 | .970 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 1.5 | .0 | 15.0 |
| Career | 47 | 47 | 36.0 | .464 | .337 | .944‡ | 2.6 | 7.0 | 1.4 | .1 | 17.4 | |
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte 49ers(Conference USA)(2015–2017) | |||||||||
| 2015–16 | Charlotte | 14–19 | 9–9 | 7th | |||||
| 2016–17 | Charlotte | 13–17 | 7–11 | 10th | |||||
| 2017–18 | Charlotte | 3–6 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Charlotte: | 30–42 (.417) | 16–20 (.444) | |||||||
| Total: | 30–42 (.417) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
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